''The Seventh Commandment'' is a 1932 American
crime film directed by
Dwain Esper
Dwain Atkins Esper (October 7, 1894 – October 18, 1982) was an American director and producer of exploitation films.
Biography
A veteran of World War I, Esper worked as a building contractor before switching to the film business in the mid-19 ...
and
James P. Hogan and starring
Victoria Vinton,
George LeMaire and
James Harrison.
[Pitts p.324] It was produced on
Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did ...
as a
second feature
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
. The title refers to the
Seventh Commandment "
Thou shalt not commit adultery
"Thou shalt not commit adultery" is found in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible. It is considered the sixth commandment by Roman Catholic and Lutheran authorities, but the seventh by Jewish and most Protestant authorities. What constitutes a ...
". It is now considered a
lost film
A lost film is a feature
Feature may refer to:
Computing
* Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch
* Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob
* Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...
.
Synopsis
A young man from the country heads to a big city in order to make his fortune. However he soon falls in with bad company, taking part in games of
strip poker
file:strip solitaire.jpg, alt= A man sits on a pillow facing away from the viewer, wearing only a belt and a bandanna. He holds a fanned hand of playing cards. An electric guitar and other objects frame the edges of the image., A man plays a strip ...
and promiscuous activities. Disgusted by such a life he returns to his hometown and plans to marry his childhood sweetheart Mary, but is alarmed to discover he has caught
syphilis.
Cast
* Stuart James as David Hayes
*
Victoria Vinton as Mary Townley
*
George LeMaire as Cubby
*
James Harrison as Numbscull
*
Maxine Collins as Vi
*
Virginia Griffith as Sue
*
Martha Heath as Fanny
*
Alma Powell
Alma Vivian Powell ( Johnson; born October 27, 1937) is an American audiologist and the widow of military and political figure Colin Powell, whom she married on August 25, 1962.
Biography
She graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenne ...
as Ma Townley
*
William Malan
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
a s Pa Townley
*
Frank Schwab as Gloomy
*
Edward Carlie
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...
as The Doctor
*
Horace B. Carpenter
Horace B. Carpenter (January 31, 1875 – May 21, 1945) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1914 and 1946. He also directed 15 films between 1925 and 1934. Born in Grand Rapids, ...
as The Quack Doctor
*
Marion Sterly as Rose
*
E. Alyn Warren as The Philosopher
References
Bibliography
* Pitts, Michael R. ''Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940''. McFarland & Company, 2005.
External links
*
1932 films
1932 crime films
1930s English-language films
American crime films
Films directed by James Patrick Hogan
American black-and-white films
1930s American films
English-language crime films
{{1930s-crime-film-stub